Magyar Hírek, 1984 (37. évfolyam, 2-26. szám)
1984-04-14 / 8. szám
Reporting from “The winter really disappointed me, complains Piroska Országh. Back home, in Sao Paolo, my people did not want to believe me when I wrote that it was Christmas, and snow still had not fallen.” There has been plenty of snow since then, and Piroska also could enjoy sleighing and building snowmen on the hills near Kőszeg. But getting acquainted with the Hungarian winter will obviously not be the most lasting memory of the period of acclimatization for young Hungarians who came to Kőszeg from abroad answering the call last year, and who are now spending one or more years at the local Jurisich College to learn or to improve their Hungarian. Eight of them sit around the table in the headmaster’s room, while I am recording their slightly nervous answers concerning their first impressions. It would be a miracle if they felt completely relaxed. Teenagers are seldom questioned by journalists and it is particularly difficult to mould into words the multitude of Eresh and even fresher impressions. “I miss my parents . . murmurs István Sipos, who is from the United States. (He expressed the feeling of all of the others, since being away from home is obviously the hardest test. His other admission that he considered progress in his knowledge of Hungarian as the most difficult of his school work also expressed the thoughts of many of his mates. His teachers told me later: “There is a lot of will in this boy, he is perhaps the one wTio progressed most.”) Hungary was not unknown to Péter Szilágyi from the United States. He spent several holidays here. College “We have to study a great deal more here, than in my school back home”, — he remarked. (According to his teachers, he stands his ground well, in spite of this complaint.) Piroska speaks again: “Well, it’s rather daring to come so far. But I have a good time here, even if things are very difficult sometimes. I intend to study catering and it is possible that I will continue my studies in Hungary when I matriculate.” Melinda Magyar from Canada praises the school: “When I came here, I could not speak Hungarian”... And now’ Well she speaks practically without blemish about her school life, that chemistry is really hard, and that she has already visited practically every town in the environs — Szombathely, Szentgotthárd — where her class-mates invited her. Livius Bossányi came from the United States. His teachers say he changed much — and to his advantage — during the past half year, and his participation in athletics — as a discusthrower — also indicates that he is already feeling more at home now. “I knew school would be tough, but it’s even tougher than I expected ...” — Ferenc Gazafi (also from the United States) said, who excelled in the 4X100 meters relay team of the school so much so that the team won the school championship of the country. Andrea Farkas (United States), said cheerfully, and sincerely: “I wanted to come here, but as the summer was passing, and the day of departure drew closer, my courage melted away. But then I thought, Jurisich well, if I do not like it, I can always go home. But I like it still, and I have lots of friends, particularly among the boarders, and now I feel I will come back for sure after the summer holidays.” Piroska Országh still has something to say: “My school-fellows are nice, we have lots of friends, I feel that they accepted us. The only thing which is perhaps not quite natural for them is that we, who came from so far away are, just the same children as they are, that we do cribbing, and misbehave just as much as they do.” Evidently Piroska senses that just as Kőszeg is new to her and her companions, with its requirements, order, customs, they also brought something new into the school. It is natural, therefore, that the fitting in, the process of becoming acquainted with each other, is a mutual process. They are the first Hungarian children from abroad to study at Kőszeg, and while they make friends with their class-mates, mutually accepting similarities and differences In each other, they will obviously pave the way for those who come next year. Dr. Sándor Tóth, the headmaster toid me that the parents are — and will be — given detailed information extenuing to every aspect of the progress of their child by letter. When this report goes into press, the parents would perhaps already know the results of the supplementary examinations. These must be completed in — besides Hungarian language — various subjects, which, depends on the student’s previous studies. After successfully sitting for the supplementary examinations, the students can take part in the school work of their class with full rights. The children who come from foreign lands receive special tuition in Hungarian each afternoon. Advanced students are tutored in pairs, while beginners get individual tuition. Vilmos Pakusza the head of the course told me that even the best cannot progress without this assistance. Mrs Kálmán Tóth, form-mistress of the first form, and Mrs Zsuzsanna Szendrő-Németh form-mistress of the second, consider that the children from abroad did have no difficulty in adjustment, in which the matter - of-factish role of teachers as parents, substituting for the real ones — for a good part of the students are boarders — has greatle helped. The 1933—1984 school-year is seen as an experiment at Jurisich College. Whether it will be a successful one will have to be judged by the participating children from abroad, and their parents. After a brief visit I think they are on the right course, for which acknowledgement must be given to the teachers as well as the students and their parents. Students from abroad will study in bilingual classes next year. Enquiries are still welcome. Enrolments indicate that the group of these students will be more populous than this year, and a new wing of the college — to be built soon — will be necessary. ISTVÁN BALÁZS "The horse is not a piece of sporting equipment” Tamás Flandorffer - József Hajas: The horse and horsemanship. Corvina Press, 2nd. ed., 1983. pp. 184 “A true horseman does not look on his horse as a piece of sporting equipment.” This could be the motto of a book written not only for horsemen and stable hands, but for everybody who loves horses. Hungarians are attached to these clever fourlegged creatures by ancient romantic feelings and nostalgia. Wild Hungarian horsemen sweeping across Europe are favourite characters in Hungarian legends. Imre Kálmán's musical comedy “Devil’s Rider”, the hero of which, the crack horseman, who jumped over coaches, banquet tables, rode up and down staircases, and swam his horse across a Danube running with drift ice also made its rounds around the w'orld. Count István Széchenyi laid the foundations of Hungarian race horse-breeding, which produced such outstanding horses as the justly world-famous Kincsem, whose bronze statue was recently unveiled in a park near the Budapest racecourse. A love of horses is, however, no Hungarian privilege. A longing for the great out of doors is present in many who otherwise practice indoor sports only. This explains why in Hungary, as everywhere, riding schools, pony trekking, riding contests for children, equestrian trials and point to point races proliferate. This will culminate this year in the team-driving World Championships to be held at Szilvásvárad in the autumn, acknowledging in their location what Hungarian coachmen in the past have achieved with a four in hand. The book gives useful information supplemented with excellent illustrations to beginners and advanced horsefanciers. It places particular emphasis on the care of horses, on details of their appearance, and methods of horse breaking and training, helping to establish trust and respect between man and beast. Without this, there could be no true horsemanship. AGNES SZECHY 30
